Work Text:
Lucifer wished he could say he was surprised that their secret barely lasted a month, but he spent enough years alone to really get acquainted with himself and he knew:
He was not subtle. Especially when he was in love.
When he was galavanting around Eden defying the elder Seraphim and falling in love with the first humans, he couldn't have been more obvious.
(Adam wasn't always such a monstrous prick. Before his ego had gotten to him and brought out that darkness, Lucifer loved him dearly. His eyes used to be so kind. Being called "the most hated being in creation" by him stung a little, even after all these millenia).
Michael had found out almost immediately and tried to talk him out of it. When that didn't work, because Lucifer is a stubborn asshole, he had looked the other way to try and protect him– little good that did in the end.
Now he had gone and fallen in love again.
With another human; a sinner.
Who didn't want anyone to know they were together.
And damn, what a case of deja vu.
Lucifer understood. Really, he did. He might be the King of Hell but he was also absent . An absent ruler who spent decades out of the public eye and alone in a workshop making rubber ducks.
Hell as a whole was definitely #TeamLilith when she left. He couldn't blame her or them for that. He had made his bed.
His reputation was never stellar but at this point public opinion was at an all time low; and for a lot of sinners, that mattered.
Especially to Overlords.
Especially to Alastor.
So, Lucifer had a plan. He was going to follow Al's lead. Keep their little thing quiet and under wraps, while simultaneously reintegrating himself back into Hell's political playing field and reestablishing himself as Hell's legitimate ruler.
It was a long time coming anyway, and would definitely help Charlie's hotel, so it was like killing a few ducks with one deer. Then Alastor wouldn't be embarrassed to be with him. It was fucking genius.
It was off to a good start too! He had a really productive meeting with the sins, got to mediate an agreement between Ozzie and Mammon before they both unleashed mutually assured destruction upon each other's rings, and was planning on inviting the Overlords to the palace for the first time since Lillith left for an introductory conference.
But now the deer was out of the metaphorical bayou, he was losing his grasp on this (admittedly shaky) metaphor, and Alastor hadn't come to bed the night before.
It was one moment of weakness. They were cooking in the kitchen, a recipe of Alastor's mother’s for "Family Dinner Night". Really, Alastor was doing the cooking and Lucifer was playing the captivated audience. And Lucifer should've known that anyone could just walk in but he was mesmerized .
Alastor in the kitchen was a vision. All quick, direct movements that he's clearly done a hundred times. There was a little pinch between his eyebrows as he was laser focused on integrating his ingredients; and at one point he stuck the tip of his tongue out and Lucifer was gone.
There was a soft song playing in the background, as there usually was when one was around Alastor. It was something old and jazzy and Lucifer couldn't hold himself back. He reached out and took one of Alastor's hands to pull him into a dance.
Alastor's eyes widened briefly but he quickly adapted and took the lead (because of course he did), spinning Lucifer gently.
"It's going to burn, Sire."
Lucifer snapped, freezing time only where the stove was once boiling.
"Hm. Neat party trick. Could've come in handy when Adam was piercing through me with that ridiculous guitar monstrosity."
Lucifer rolled his eyes, "Just hold me, asshole."
Alastor laughed, his eyes crinkling as he squeezed Lucifer a little tighter and said "My, my. So very needy."
And this was the moment Lucifer fucked up.
"Very needy. Quite literally can't get enough, unfortunately." He agreed seriously and pulled Alastor down for a kiss.
He could never get tired of kissing Alastor. Everytime, even slow and soft moments like these, felt electric between them. Every thought was just encompassed in him. In moments like these, they weren't The King and The Radio Demon. They were simply Lucifer and Alastor enjoying each other, and although it was still new, it felt so right for the first time in a long time.
A low, surprised "Holy fuck," changed everything.
There in the doorway, half a step into the kitchen with his mouth hanging open and eyes bugged out of his skull, was Angel Dust.
Alastor jumped back as if he had been burned by Lucifer's touch and he tried to not let that sting a bit.
"Oh, heyyy Angel." Lucifer tried casually.
Alastor's reaction was a little different. His eyes turned to dials as his antlers sprouted menacingly from his head as he stalked towards Angel who threw his hands up in self defense.
"If you value Husker's life at all, you saw absolutely nothing occur in this kitchen. Any word otherwise and while I would hate to waste a perfectly adequate bartender, I will have his soul shredded and devoured live on air." He threatened, conjuring his contract and displaying it for emphasis.
"Al, c'mon." Lucifer tried to reach out to grab his arm, but Alastor quickly snatched it away from him. "It's not that big of a d-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Alastor turned to cut him off, and Lucifer could feel the anger radiating from the clenched smile facing him. With Al's focus off of him, Angel squeaked out a quick "Loud 'n clear, Smiles!" before bolting out of the kitchen.
"I made myself explicitly clear when all this began that I am not and never will be seen as your little plaything in front of others."
"What are you even talking about? It's more than that and you-"
"I have built an exceptional reputation for myself and I will not have that undermined, even for you."
"I'm not asking you to!"
"But I asked you!" The static was crackling now. "I asked you to keep this between us and here you are crossing the one boundary I've set forth out of pure thoughtlessness and impulsivity. This is a communal kitchen, Lucifer."
Lucifer could feel the panic setting in. He tried to reach out again to grab Alastor's hand but he stepped back out of reach and turned away, his shoulders positively rigid.
"Al, I'm sorry-” but that was all he could get out before shadows rose from the floor, encompassed Alastor, and took him to who the fuck knows where.
Lucifer had hoped that giving some space would help. He absolutely hated it because he was a clingy motherfucker, but he knew Alastor wouldn’t appreciate his company right now.
So he spent the night alone in hopes that after breakfast, they could talk and that he didn’t just ruin this. The bed was cold and the room was quiet without Alastor there. It had only been one night but he already missed latching himself to Alastor’s warm back and occasionally getting poked with an antler.
He only managed an hour of restless rest. You sleep alone for decades with no issues and a month of consistent company hits the reset button on it all. Who knew?
And then Alastor wasn’t at breakfast and Lucifer was trying not to freak out. He had been working on himself in a lot of ways since he joined his daughter at the hotel, and it took everything in him not to run from the table at the sight of the empty seat and lock himself away again.
Charlie deserved better than that.
So, facing his failure it was.
Breakfast was torture. He knew it was supposed to be Hell and all, but this was pushing it. He was exhausted and miserable and his stomach was in knots over this entire situation so he could barely get down a single fucking pancake.
It was actually pathetic.
He could feel Charlie’s worrying gaze, as well as Angel pointedly looking anywhere but him and he wanted nothing more than to bolt then and there.
Instead, he avoided eye contact and focused on the syrup pooling on his plate while everyone chatted around him.
It’s not like he and Alastor didn’t have their squabbles. Hell, they met on the wrong foot. But after being the only one who could heal Alastor’s wound from Adam, they bonded. A begrudging friendship was born that spanned months until they came to terms with becoming something more . After all of that, Lucifer had thought he understood where they stood.
Now it felt like he lost him before he got to really have him; all because he was a shitty king with terrible self control.
His spiraling was interrupted by Charlie coughing deliberately. He glanced up and realized they were the last two at the table.
“Dad?” She got up to slide into the seat next to him. “Is everything alright?”
Lucifer immediately felt his eyes start to water and cursed internally.
No.
No.
He was not going to do this in front of his daughter. He was going to pull it together.
“Of course! Just a little tired; you know how it is! A king’s work is never done and all that!” He felt his voice getting louder and slightly manic but pushed through and committed.“I gotta tell you, I had a conference call with The Sins last night and Mamm-”
“Dad.” She was clearly not buying it as she grabbed his hand and squeezed. “It’s okay to not be alright, you know?”
“I-”
“And you don’t have to tell me about it; but I need you to know how glad I am that you’re here and,” she took a steadying breath. “whatever it is, you don’t have to go through it alone anymore.”
The tears were fully flowing now as he pulled his daughter into a hug. Lucifer was in constant awe of the woman his daughter had become.
He lost so much time with her and that is something he has to mourn everyday. But he was here now, and he was done hiding.
“Thanks Sweetie, I-” he took a breath, “I’m having a bit of a rough morning but I’m going to be okay. I promise.”
Because he had to be. No matter what happened with Alastor, he was here for Charlie.
Depression. Heartbreak. Failure. All of it be damned. He was going to be the father his daughter deserved first and foremost.
She let out a sigh of relief and stood up.
“Okay. Just, take care of yourself, alright? I love you.” She ruffled his hair.
“I love you too.”
“More than anything?” She called out as she was leaving.
“More than anything.” He answered with a small smile.
Left alone with his thoughts again, Lucifer started feeling restless. With his Radio Demon still MIA, he was in desperate need of a distraction. The talk with Charlie had been a soothing balm to his aching heart, but the rawness was beginning to creep its way back in full force now that she left; and he could feel his nerves fraying at the seams.
As he left the dining area, he passed by the lobby. Cherri, their “sometimes” resident, was lounged back on the couch watching some reality show hosted by Verosika Mayday; And Father, wouldn’t that be an easy way to turn his brain off for a few hours – but fuck it if he’d ever willingly subject himself to something that flat-faced fuck of Overlord was behind.
It was, in fact, their mutual distaste for that particular medium of entertainment that prompted one of their first cordial conversations.
A simple “ugh, fuck that guy.” Lucifer couldn't help but grumble out in response to a VoxTech Angel Security System ad playing in the background – and a twinkle formed in Alastor’s eyes as he turned towards him.
“Why, your majesty, I do believe we’ve just found something we actually agree on!”
Lucifer’s been chasing the high of that twinkle ever since.
(“Sap.” he could almost hear Alastor’s voice saying in response to that sentiment)
That all being said, television was not an option; no matter how much of an icon Ms. Mayday was.
So, a book in the parlor sounded like a safe alternative, as long as he avoided love stories for the time being – at least until he was sure his own love story wasn’t going up in flames. (Again, due to his own stupid impulsivity, but those weren’t healthy thoughts to dwell on.)
Once there, he avoided anything that would trigger another spiral and picked out a nice, easy read on constellations. He wondered briefly how Paimon’s sweet boy Stolas was doing. He had always been one of the more pleasant Goetia to engage with. There had been word of a divorce from that awful wife of his going around.
He would have to give him a call soon to check in.
He was jolted from his train of thought by none other than the spider himself entering the room.
Angel Dust froze upon seeing Lucifer and glanced back at the door, looking like he was ready to make his escape.
“Angel, wait. Can yo-, can we-, ugh.” He was terrible at this. “ Can we talk? Please?”
Angel spared one last longing glance towards the doorway and sighed, making his way towards the couch opposite the armchair Lucifer had found himself in.
“Alright.” He sighed, sitting down. “Let’s do this, Short King.”
“I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”
Angel snorted.
“No offense, your highness, but you’re not the one threatenin’ to tear up Husky’s soul.”
“I don’t think he’d really hurt him.” He answered honestly. “Alastor was– we were caught up and he was just– “ Lucifer struggled to find the words.
“Startled.” he finished lamely.
“Hah. ‘Startled’ is one way of puttin’ it!” Angel said with a laugh.
Charlie’s words about not being alone anymore rang in his head as Lucifer contemplated how vulnerable he was about to get.
“He’s not ready for anyone to know. Not yet.”
“I gotta say, this definitely threw me for a loop. We all saw you gettin’ along better but none of us coulda guessed it was goin’ that well! How long?”
Lucifer flushed.
“About a month of being, you know, official or whatever.” He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck subconsciously.
“Damn, I didn’t think Smiles had it in ‘im!”
Angel looked genuinely excited and Lucifer felt the despair creeping in, and himself starting to crack.
“That is, if we’re actually still together?” He mumbled, apparently going all in on this vulnerability thing. “I haven’t seen him since, well, y’know.”
Angel’s eyes narrowed.
“Whaddaya mean?”
“Al is an extremely well respected Overlord. I am decidedly not as well regarded as a ruler – Which I am working on! I’ve actually been going to meetings again! – but um, I just think he would’ve preferred that my reputation was in better standing before anyone found anything out.”
And there it was. The floodgates had opened. It would’ve almost felt nice to let that off his chest if his heart wasn’t aching at the very notion of potentially losing Alastor.
“Wait, wait, wait, wait.” Angel flung his hands out in disbelief. “You’re tellin’ me that you think Mr. Creepy Voice is gonna end things with you because he’s embarrassed of you?”
“Well–” Lucifer felt his face getting hot. “I am kind of a huge mess, Angel – it’s not like it’s out of the realm of possi-”
His defense was cut off by Angel starting to laugh, and Lucifer felt a surge of annoyance at that.
“I’m trying to open up here.”
Angel reached across the table to pat his knee.
“Yeah, so listen – I’m not even going to pretend to understand what goes on in that old jukebox’s brain of his, but you guys definitely need to have a talk; and you in particular need to unload some of that fallen angel trauma.”
“Fallen ang- what?”
“You need a friend here, Lucifer. Somebody who’s not or your daughter or who you’re also fucking. Lucky for you, I’m a great listener who also happens to know a thing or two about trauma.”
Lucifer couldn’t help but gape. He couldn’t remember the last time someone offered their friendship to him so freely.
“Angel, I -” He swiped at his face, feeling a few stray tears fall. “-really appreciate you saying that and would really like to be your friend.”
“Alright, alright. Don’t get me started now too – bring it here, handsome.”
Angel stood up and pulled Lucifer into a tight hug, allowing all three sets of arms to wrap themselves securely around the king. Lucifer hadn’t been hugged this often in decades, and it felt wonderful.
He squeezed back gently, and let a few more tears fall. Without actually meaning to pry, being so close to Angel made him immediately aware of the invisible chain around his neck. It glowed a violent pink that made Lucifer’s stomach turn. He tucked this bit of information away for a future conversation to have with his new friend.
This was, unfortunately, also a conversation he’d be having with Alastor. Eventually.
Suddenly, the air filled with static and shadows coalesced around them as Alastor appeared in the doorway to the parlor, smiling tightly and eyeing Lucifer and Angel’s compromising embrace.
“My, my, what a cozy predicament I’ve found you both in!” He announced, gritting his sharp and lethal teeth.
Angel’s earlier sense of self preservation must have left him, because as he stepped back from Lucifer, he laughed.
“I was just keepin’ him warm for ya, Smiles! Wasn’t sure how long you’d keep him waitin’ around for!”
Alastor’s eyes once again turned to dials as he stepped forward.
“Yes, well, I’m here now and would like to have a private audience with our King if you’d please.”
“Yeah, yeah, fine. I’ll see ya around, Luci. We’ll do drinks!” He said, patting Lucifer’s back one last time (pulling a quick sound of feedback out of Alastor), before taking his leave.
This left Lucifer and Alastor alone as Alastor’s shadow slammed the door closed and turned the lock.
Lucifer longed to reach out and pull Alastor to him, but was sure that wouldn’t be welcomed right now. Instead he just stared, and Alastor stared back. The air was so thick with tension that you could cut it with an angelic steel blade.
Finally, it was Lucifer who broke. (Because of course it was.)
“You didn’t come to bed last night.” He observed.
“I found that a visit to Rosie’s was in order.” He paused, “Angel Dust called you ‘Luci’.”
“I think we’re friends now.” Lucifer admitted with a small smile.
“Hm.”
“What did Rosie have to say?”
Alastor sighed.
“That I was being foolish.”
“Probably not as foolish as me kissing you in a communal kitchen when you asked to keep us a secret.”
“I think that, perhaps, it was my insistence on this secret in the first place that was the most foolish. It was also unfair to you.”
Lucifer stepped forward, reaching for Alastor’s hand but quickly aborted the action.
“No, no, Al I get it. I know how important your reputation is. I know I haven’t been a King you’d be proud to stand beside. I’ve been working on that, actually. And Angel won’t tell anyone.”
Alastor’s head turned to the side, eyeing Lucifer curiously.
“My dear, I think there has been a grave miscommunication here.”
Lucifer held up a hand, unable to take the distance between them any longer.
“Before we get into it, can you just, like, sit with me? At least for a little? I missed you.” He admitted, gesturing to the couch.
(Clingy motherfucker, remember?)
Alastor tsked quietly but conceded as he took Lucifer’s hand and led him over to sit.
“It’s in moments such as this that I can almost forget that you’re the most powerful being in Hell.” He mumbled, squeezing the hand he held.
Despite knowing they were about to face this conflict head on, Lucifer couldn’t help but sink into a more relaxed state just from the simple touch of his Radio Demon. He was so fucked .
“Is that something you wish you could forget about?”
“Sometimes,” he admitted, “but not for the reasons you appear to be under the assumption of.”
Lucifer squeezed Alastor’s hand and took a deep breath to steady himself.
He could do this.
“Okay. I’m listening.” He said, meeting Alastor’s eyes head on, determined to be truly present in this moment. As scary a prospect as it was, Lucifer wanted to understand everything . The unknowing of it all hadn’t been kind to him.
“When this all began and I informed you of my intention to keep this between us, it had nothing at all to do with how you were perceived as a ruler and everything to do with how I would be perceived as an Overlord.”
With that, Lucifer could start to feel the pieces of the puzzle finally clicking into place. And boy, had he been off course.
“So when you said all that stuff about not being seen as some sort of playthi-”
“A projection, as my dear Rosie so kindly informed me.” Alastor reached out to grab Lucifer’s other hand before continuing.
“Dearest,” he started. “I arrived in Hell with nothing but the multitude of my sins on my back and still managed to claw my way to the top. I am, unfortunately, a prideful sinner who could not stand the very thought of being seen as some fool playing succubi to the King for protection. Not after coming so far.”
Lucifer was affronted at that and opened his mouth to argue; but was quickly cut off by Alastor carrying on.
“I am well aware that is not what this is at all – but to some, it’d look to be precisely that. And while I loathe to admit to caring what others think, I was deeply uncomfortable with the notion of that.” He admitted, his cheeks twinging a light pink at his own vulnerability.
“Baby…” Lucifer said quietly, his heart lurching.
Alastor cringed only slightly at the term of endearment and spoke again.
“Lucifer, as I’ve mentioned previously, having feelings of this nature is extraordinarily rare for me. This is all very… new. Unfamiliar. Finding my footing is proving to be an adjustment.”
Lucifer let out a deep sigh of relief with a breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. It was okay. Alastor wasn’t halfway out the door ready to leave him. He could handle this. He pulled Alastor’s hand towards him and lightly kissed his knuckles.
“Father Above, I was so scared I had fucked this all up already. Al, I want this. With you . I don’t care if you need time, or space – fuck, adjust away. Take what you need. I understand. Just promise you’ll come back to me anytime you walk away.”
“I believe I can manage that.” Alastor whispered; and it felt like a pact. Sacred and long lasting.
“Good, ‘cause the radio silence was killer .” Lucifer answered back, finally allowing himself to crawl into Alastor’s lap and wrap his arms around his neck. Alastor’s hands immediately found Lucifer’s waist, claws digging gently into his sides.
“Then I’m glad we’re on the same frequency now.” He replied with a mischievous glint in his eye. Lucifer couldn’t hold back the bark of laughter that forced its way out at that; and happily laid his forehead against Alastor’s.
They sat like that in silence, just enjoying each other's embrace until Alastor spoke up again.
“I do believe it’s time we tell Charlie.”
It was a soft, quiet admittance; and one that Lucifer now understood the gravity of.
The two of them had certainly come a long way. Changing, growing, evolving – none of it comes easy, especially not after years of staying stagnant in one’s ways. They had some hefty and decidedly unhealthy habits to break themselves out of – but in this moment, where it was just the two of them in each other's arms, it all felt possible and worth whatever came next.
He couldn’t hold back his grin as he gave his answer to that.
“Let’s do it.”